Nightmares
by lordtrayus
Summary: With her club getting wrecked nightly, Piper is determined to find what is causing all the damage. However, the answer leads her on a path to find the truth, and bring her family together. Au.


**Disclaimer: I do not own Charmed**

Nightmares

Piper cursed as she came into the club. Yet again, several glasses had fallen from their hooks and had smashed on the floor. Swizzel sticks had been shaken loose and were covering the floor behind the bar and napkins were everywhere.

"What the hell is going on in here? Am I infested with imps?" she hissed, grabbing her brush and looking around irritably.

This was the third day this week that she had come in to find the club in a state. And whatever was causing it she had to get rid of it before it drove her into bankruptcy.

"Come on you little blue business ruining maniacs." She hissed.

There was suddenly a flash behind her and she turned and wound out smacking Chris, her new Whitelighter, hard on the head, making him fall to the floor.

"Ouch." He moaned as he picked himself up.

"Oh, sorry Chris, I thought you were a business wrecking demon." She said grumpily.

He rubbed his head ruefully as he looked at her. Close to, she could see he looked exhausted. There were deep purple bags under his eyes, which were red rimmed from lack of sleep, his longish brown hair was limp and lifeless and his skin was pale and pasty.

"Chris, you look awful." She said in concern.

"I'm alright." He said, heading to sit down.

"No you're not. What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm fine Piper, ok?" he said collapsing into a chair.

Piper narrowed her eyes. She liked him, but she knew there was a lot of stuff that he wasn't telling her. And she also knew that he was at least indirectly responsible for the collapse of her marriage, and she found it very irritating that she still didn't know why he had done it.

"What is it anyway?" she asked, knowing that she wasn't going to get him to open up to her any time soon.

"There's a demon I want you to go after." He said tiredly.

Piper rolled her eyes in frustration.

"Chris, I've got a business to run, and clean up, before these damn imps send me into bankruptcy! I don't have time to hunt demons." She grumbled.

Chris stood up angrily.

"Fine. Worry about your club, I'll worry about protecting your son from evil." He growled.

Piper looked at him in shock, and he looked guiltily down at the floor.

"Sorry Piper, I didn't meant that." He said, squeezing her hand a little.

Piper shrugged it off, and for a brief instant he looked a bit hurt.

"You're right though. Right, demon first, imps later. Do you see or hear anything at night?" she asked, her irritation with the situation dwarfing her resentment of his comment.

Chris looked uncertain, then shook his head.

"No, I don't see anyone." He said, before orbing out.

Piper looked at where he had orbed out, lost in her own thoughts. There was something he wasn't telling her. And also, she was sure he had looked hurt when she had pulled her hand away. Something was going on. And she would find out what it was if it was the last thing she did.

XX

"Ok, who is this demon?" Paige asked as the three stood around the Book of Shadows.

"He's called Damaxis. He's a nasty bit of work, I've met him before. And whatever you do, don't let him fire his grey ball thingamajig." Chris warned, rubbing his eyes.

"Chris, you feel exhausted. Go and get some rest. We can deal with this guy." Phoebe said soothingly.

Chris shook his head slowly, his pale face showing his exhaustion.

"No. I want to make sure you three are alright." He said.

Piper looked at him in concern, and felt slightly guilty for hurting him earlier. He did really care about the three of them, he just didn't show it that often.

"Alright, let's deal with this thing so I can find out who's trying to ruin my club." She said, standing by her sisters.

They joined hands, and an exhausted Chris looked on as they began to chant.

"_Hear these words we send through the wind_

_We reach across the divide_

_To bring you here at this time_

_And end the threat of your powers divine_."

There was a magical cry and a small portal opened on the ceiling and the demon was ripped from whatever he was doing, dropping down before them. He was dressed all in black, and his skin was a horrible, poisonous green. Two short stubby horns hung down from his head, and a third eye was in the centre of his forehead.

"Yuck." Phoebe said, as it fired an energy ball.

They dove out of the way, and Chris got up and flicked a table at him with his telekinesis. The demon blasted it with the energy ball, then it gestured, sending Chris hurtling through the air and into a pile of old items at the back of the attic.

Paige cursed as she and her sisters got to their feet. They joined hands.

"_Blinding darkness, your shade we drop_

_This foul demon we wish to stop_

_Blind this demon of three eyes_

_Destroy this demon whom we despise_."

The demon gave a cry and exploded into fiery fragments. They looked down at the pile of ash in satisfaction and Piper went over to Chris, who was leaning against the wall.

"Chris, are you ok?" Phoebe asked, seeing that a splinter of wood had impaled itself through his shoulder.

"I'm fine." He muttered as Paige helped him up.

"Oh no." Phoebe said, looking at her back and seeing that a shard of wood had also impaled within her.

"Are you alright?" Piper asked as Paige pulled it out.

"Yeah I'm fine. Just a scratch." Phoebe said unconcernedly, rubbing the sore part.

"You know it would be a lot easier if you could heal." Paige said to Chris.

Chris shot her an irritable look.

"Look, you cant heal either. So stop rubbing it in that I'm not perfect." Chris said resentfully, and orbed out.

Paige looked at where he orbed out, then turned to her sisters, confusion clear on her face.

"What was that about?" she asked, bewildered.

Piper sat down on the couch.

"I don't know. I don't think he's been sleeping much recently, he just seems so run down. And he seems very defensive at the moment. And earlier, he accused me of not caring about protecting Wyatt." She said.

"That's ridiculous." Paige said, shaking her head.

"It's not that though. And he did sort of have a point, I was more interested in who ever is ruining my club that getting this demon of his. No, what bothers me is when he took my hand a second later and I pulled away, he looked really hurt. It's weird." She said.

Phoebe tapped her teeth wonderingly.

"Maybe he's falling for you." She suggested.

Piper shook her head firmly.

"No. I might not be an empath, but I don't think thats it. Something else is up with him. And I think he has a feeling that we don't like him. I think we forget how young he is." She said worriedly.

"We do like him." Phoebe said, as though it was obvious.

"I know, but I don't think we let him know that. Right, I'll try and get Chris to talk tonight when I'm at the club on imp watch. Paige, can you handle Wyatt?" Piper asked, to her sister's nod.

"And I don't think you should rub it in that he cant heal. He seems to have inferiority issues as it is." Phoebe advised.

"Oh crimony, it was a joke. But I will apologise to him. He did seem pretty bummed by it." Paige said, looking slightly guilty.

"Right, I'm away t save the sole source of our income. See you later." Piper said.

And if she could, find out what was wrong with Chris.

XX

Chris put up the last chair as the last patron was ushered out by the bouncer. Piper looked around, confident that nothing was out of place.

"Thanks for helping Chris. And did Paige apologise?" she asked.

Chris nodded.

"Yeah. She didn't have to though. I'm just so tired, everything's getting to me." He complained.

Piper looked at him in worry as he headed towards the office where he slept.

"Chris, wait." She said.

Chris turned around slowly, as though it was too much of a struggle to even stay awake.

"What?" he asked, yawning.

"Chris, I'm worried about you. You've been tired for days, you're clearly not getting any sleep. What's wrong?" she asked in concern.

Chris shook his head.

"I'm ok Piper, I'm just tired, that's all." He said, obviously attempting to deflect her.

"No you're not. Talk to me. You are my Whitelighter, and sometimes its a witches job to look after you as much as you look after us." She said pointedly.

Chris looked gladdened by this, but shook his head.

"I'm alright." He said.

Piper looked at his retreating back as he headed for the office.

"Wait." She said.

Chris turned, as though struggling to keep going. Piper walked over to him and hugged him tightly.

"We do appreciate everything you do for us. And I'll always be grateful for what you're doing for Wyatt. And I know we can be right pains sometimes, but that's just who we are." She said.

Chris moved a little in her arms, and Piper caught a scent that she had smelled before, but couldn't place it.

"Thanks Piper." He said, smiling wanly at her.

"Go and get some sleep, I'll lock up." She said, squeezing his hand.

"Night." He said, looking slightly sad as he headed to the office.

"And Chris?" she called.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"We do like you." She reminded him as she went to get her flashlight.

She hadn't told Chris that she was going to be on imp watch tonight...or that she would be here to make sure he got a decent night's sleep, because she was afraid that if he didn't get one soon, he was going to burn out.

She shut off all the lights, and sat in full view of the bar, her flashlight and biscuits ready. She was determined to catch the imps and blow them to bits like they deserved.

"Come on you little business wrecking cretins, come and get me." She sneered.

After a couple of hours, she was sitting in full view of the bar and nothing had moved or made any noise. Nothing aside from Chris. There was a lot of moaning coming from the office, and Piper was ready to go and wake him up if the noises he was making got any louder. And then, the room trembled. The glasses started to rattle, the swizzler boxes started jiggling about and napkins and tables moved a little.

"Oh great, an earthquake." She hissed.

And then, as abruptly as it had begun, it stopped. Piper frowned.

"Well that was weird." She said.

Chris however, had apparently been unaffected by the tremor. He moaned louder, and sounded upset about something. He must be having one hell of a nightmare. Piper wondered briefly whether to check if he was alright or not, when her mobile rung.

"Hi Paige, I'm ok." Piper said, looking worriedly at the office door.

"How's the imp catching?" Paige asked, sounding amused.

"Non existent unfortunately. But whatever Chris is dreaming about, he didn't wake up during the tremor. Is Wyatt ok?"

"Tremor?" Paige asked, sounding perplexed.

"Yes Paige, you know, when the earth moves? There was one just now." Piper said, too tired herself for faffing about.

Paige sounded worried.

"No there wasn't Piper."

Piper looked at the phone in confusion. They hadn't felt a tremor at the house?

"Why don't you come home sweetie?" Paige suggested.

"Yeah...I think I better." Piper said, worried she was losing her marbles.

Piper packed up her stuff and poked her head into the office to check on Chris. Her Whitelighter had kicked off his covers, and he was thrashing around, and he looked really scared out of his wits. Piper crept into the room, her concern shoving her on.

"Chris?" she asked gently, touching his cheek.

He didn't hear her, and groaned slightly in his sleep. Piper looked at him worriedly. Should she wake him?

Then abruptly, he bolted up, yelling "NO!"

"Chris, what's wrong?" Piper asked.

Chris was breathing heavily, covered in sweat, looking terrified and upset.

"Piper?" he asked weakly, looking at her in the darkness.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you ok?" she asked, her mothering instinct coming through.

Chris gave a few more pants.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm fine." He lied.

"Chris..." she said pointedly.

Chris shook his head.

"I'm fine Piper." He said, and laid back down and closed his eyes.

Piper looked at the young man in bewilderment, pondering what to do. After a few minutes, he had clearly fallen asleep again, and then he started moaning in his sleep. Piper was worried about him. Bending down, she kissed his forehead gently and headed home.

As she left the club, Chris let out a scream and the room began to rattle again.

XX

Piper woke late, her dreams having been haunted by Chris' screams.

"You look like hell. And you didn't even hear Wyatt crying last night." Phoebe said, rocking her nephew.

"Sorry Phoebe. Hi." She said, taking her son and holding him.

"What's wrong?" Phoebe asked.

Piper sat down on the bed beside her sister and sighed.

"I'm worried about Chris. He always seems to be relatively tough, and sort of, not cold, but reserved." She explained.

"Yeah, I know that."

"But the past few days he's been so strung up and emotional, it's worrying. I seriously am worried about him. He's hardly sleeping because of these nightmares he's having, and I'm afraid that if we cant help him through it soon he's going to burn out." She recounted as Wyatt dozed off.

Phoebe looked at her in concern.

"Let me guess, he isn't telling you whats wrong?" she asked.

"No he isn't. But it's weird, almost scary seeing him so scared and alone looking. I reckon he's terrified to go to sleep. And I dread to think what he sees in his nightmares, because those screams aren't just bad dreams, they're scary things. They scare the hell out of him Pheebs." She said, letting go of her worries.

Phoebe frowned.

"You reckon it could be the dream sorcerer?" she asked.

Piper shook her head.

"Cant be, he was mortal and he's dead. They stay dead unlike some of our demon friends. Can you check the book and look for demons that feed off bad dreams? Maybe he's a target, and he's not putting us in danger because he's worried about us." Piper theorised.

Phoebe smiled slightly.

"You're just like Prue sometimes. She'd probably want to help him, if he was willing or not." She said, and squeezed her shoulder as she left.

Piper looked down at Wyatt, wondering what she would do if it was her son who was affected.

"What's wrong with you Chris?" Piper mused.

XX

Leo orbed into the attic as Phoebe explained to Paige about Chris' nightmares.

"But he seems tough all the time." Paige said sadly.

"Yeah, and I reckon that's what is scaring Piper. He always seems so tough, so what the hell is in his nightmares to make him scream like he's being tortured?" she asked worriedly.

"Who?" Leo asked as he joined them.

"Chris. He's having horrible nightmares and Piper's worried about him." Paige explained.

Leo rolled his eyes.

"Shouldnt she be worried about a demon that could possibly cause earthquakes, and about raising Wyatt instead of running around after Chris' bad dreams?" he asked.

Phoebe smiled.

"You're jealous!" she declared.

Leo looked at Phoebe in shock.

"No I'm not. I'm just worried about whatever demon keeps nearly wrecking the club." He said.

"You are so jealous. You're jealous that Piper is worried about Chris!" Paige exclaimed in delight.

"No I'm not Paige." Leo said angrily.

Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"You know, I reckon you've lsot your sense of humour since becoming an Elder. And you can relax. Piper cares for Chris yeah, but she isn't falling for him." Phoebe soothed.

Leo narrowed his eyes.

"But what about him?"

Phoebe shook her head.

"He isn't falling for her either. You're wife is quite safe Leo." Phoebe said sarcastically.

Leo sighed.

"You know I miss her. And Wyatt." He said.

"We know Leo. But ratting on Chris when she's worried about him wont get you anywhere with Piper." Paige advised.

Leo prepared to orb up.

"Just make sure she doesn't go after this demon possibility without backup again." He said, before disappearing.

Phoebe rolled her eyes.

"We need to sort that pair out." She said.

Paige shrugged half-heartedly.

"I think thats part of the problem: they think Chris caused their breakup." She reminded her sister.

Phoebe looked sheepish.

"I think he had something to do with it, but I don't think its fair to exclusively blame the kid. And I reckon he does care about Piper at least, enough that he doesn't want to hurt her or us." She said.

Paige nodded.

"So we're helping him?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm going to go into work and see what I can find out about severe nightmares. You can watch Wyatt." Phoebe said.

"What about Piper?" Paige asked.

"She has to go to the club and find out what the imps have done. If it is them."

XX

Piper entered the club, and saw that the damage was getting worse. More glasses had fallen off, a light was hanging down and sparks were emitting from the till, and several bottles had smashed.

"What the hell is going on?" she asked as she set about cleaning it up.

"Morning Piper."

Piper jumped as Chris came out from the office, looking even worse than he had done the night before.

"Hey Chris. You look worse than you did yesterday. And do not tell me you are ok." She said sternly.

Chris shrugged.

"I'll get through it." He said without feeling.

"Really? Because I'm not so sure you will. You're getting worse and it cant be good for you Chris." Piper said, watching as he started cleaning up some of the mess that had been made.

"I can handle it." He said, carefully keeping his back to her.

Piper decided now was not the time to press the concerned business partner relationship and was time to use a more comforting approach. She walked over to him and took him by his hand and led him to sit down, where she saw that he was crying.

"It's ok you know. You can tell me." She said gently.

Chris sniffed slightly.

"No I cant. Besides, you don't want to hear it." He said, blinking tears from his eyes.

Piper shook her head.

"Hey. I asked didn't I? And Chris, we really do care what happens about you. Trust me." She said, trying to get him to open up.

He smiled at her slightly, and Piper was struck by a wave of pain as she saw how ill he looked due to his lack of sleep.

"That's sweet, but trust me, you don't want to know what I see in my nightmares."

Piper put her arm around him and he curled up beside her, and she started to stroke his hair gently.

"They must really be something if they scare you this much." She commented quietly.

Chris shivered slightly.

"I'm scared to go to sleep. They always get bad at this time of year." He admitted.

Piper just held him, worried about her Whitelighter. She could sometimes forget he was still quite young and unsure of himself. And she strangely wanted to help him. She looked around at the mess the imps had made, and knew she had to clean it up but she didn't want to move Chris as he seemed to be relatively peaceful at the moment and she wanted him to get better. He was only tossing a little bit, but as her arm was around him, he wasn't getting far and seemed a lot calmer than he had the night before.

There was a shimmering and Leo appeared, looking grumpy. Piper raised a hand to her lips and gently slipped out from under Chris, lowering him onto the seat and then covering him with her shawl. She went over to her estranged husband.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Piper, there could be a very powerful demon on the loose, and you're making yourself a target!" Leo moaned.

"No, I'm trying to help Chris." She retorted.

Leo looked over at Chris, who was starting to thrash about a little more.

"I must admit, those dreams do seem really bad." He admitted worriedly.

"Exactly." Piper said, as if that justified what she was doing.

"We already have a son Piper. Dont take on another cause, because you might not be able to do anything for him." Leo warned.

"I don't believe that. And you shouldn't either. Just because he isn't family doesn't mean he doesn't need help Leo. I'm going to try and help him. It scares me actually, seeing him like this." She whispered.

Chris then gave out a moan, and the table beside him abruptly collapsed.

"What the?" Leo asked, his argument with Piper forgotten.

A suspicion was starting to form in Piper's mind. Chris let out a scream, and more glasses broke, and she knew she was right, turning to Leo.

"Do you remember our wedding?" she asked.

"Of course I do. But whats that got to do with Chris?" he asked in confusion.

"Prue's astral self was running away from her. I think Chris' telekinesis is doing that with him. His body is using his magic to fight these perceived threats, but it's not working as they're only in his mind. So, his powers are released and have nowhere else to go, so trash the club." She explained, quite proiud of her theory.

Leo looked ponderingly, and for the first time, with concern at Chris.

"That could be it. He must be packing some serious power to do everything in here though." He said, looking around.

"I think it's more a case of packing some serious nightmares. We need to help him." She said, as though it were obvious.

Leo nodded.

"Yeah, ok. We'll take him to the manor and see if there's something in the book that will let us fix him." He said.

Piper headed over, and gently touched Chris' cheek. And the next thing she knew she was flying over the room. She smashed down into a table and fell to the floor.

"Piper!" Chris exclaimed unhappily and rushed over to help her.

"Ow." She cursed as Chris knelt down beside her.

"Are you ok? I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I didn't want to hurt you, I promise." He said, jabbering.

"It's ok Chris. You didn't mean it." She said as he pulled her up.

"I didn't mean it." He said again, looking unhappy.

"Hey, it's ok. Ow. You forget what it's like getting thrown around when you don't have Prue around anymore." She commented, rubbing her backside.

Chris was looking very guilty and very worried and concerned.

"Chris?" Leo asked, touching his shoulder.

"Leo." Piper said bluntly, pointing.

Several tables were starting to float around the room and Chris was looking miserable.

"I'm sorry Piper, I was trying to stop it, but it's worse than usual this year. And now I cant control it. I wanted to tell you..." he said tearfully.

Piper cuddled him.

"It's ok. We're going to help you. We'll sort it ok?" she asked, looking into his eyes.

He nodded slowly.

"Come on, home." She told Leo, and they orbed off.

XX

Chris was left in the living room with Leo watching him while Piper and her sisters looked in the Book to try and find a spell to help him.

"Do you really want to do this? Whatever his nightmares are they must be scary as hell to make him so scared Piper." Phoebe reasoned.

"I know. That's why I want to help him. It scares me seeing him like this, and I want to help him sort this out. Why is that so hard for you lot to grasp?" she asked irritably.

"It's not honey. We want to help him too, but what if his dreams are nothing you're gonna like?" Paige asked.

Piper looked sadly down the stairs.

"I don't know what it is. I just really want to help him Paige."

"To make up for how we treated him sometimes?" Phoebe asked shrewdly.

"Partly. And it's annoying Leo, which also suits me as well at the moment. And...I cant explain it." She said, throwing her arms up in frustration.

Paige smiled.

"You've changed your tune from when he first arrived." She teased.

Piper shot her a dirty look.

"Yes, and I think that might be affecting him too, not being sure that we like him..."

"He's not a kid Piper. Hes a big boy." Phoebe soothed.

Piper pouted.

"I know, it's just there's something about him..." she said.

"Um...Piper?" Leo called, sounding concerned.

The spell in hand they headed down the stairs.

"What do you think it is about him?" Phoebe asked interestedly.

"I don't know, just something...whoa." Piper said as they entered the living room.

Everything bar the sofa, Leo and Chris was floating in mid air. Chris was shivering and holding his head as though in pain, and Leo was trying to talk to him.

"It's ok Chris, things go flying in here all the time." Leo said sympathetically.

"It's me who's been causing those tremors. I knew this would happen, I cant control it." He moaned.

"This has happened before?" Phoebe asked worriedly.

"It happens every year. It gets worse every year, especially now. I'm sorry." He moaned, clearly in pain and distress.

Paige and Phoebe looked at Piper in concern, and Piper sat down beside him, stroking his hair soothingly.

"Chris, it's ok. And I'd prefer you wreck things in here rather than at the club anyway." She said, smiling slightly.

Chris groaned as his telekinesis surged. Paige felt lighter all of a sudden and looked down to see that even she had been lifted up.

"Excuse me people, a little help?" she asked.

"I'm sorry Paige." Chris said, holding his head in between his hands.

As Phoebe and Leo tried to pull her back to earth, Piper tilted Chris' face to her gently.

"Chris, I want to help you. But for me to do that, you need to go to sleep." She said as Leo was plucked from the ground as well. He caught Wyatt as he floated through under no volition of his own, looking confused.

Chris shook his head urgently, looking pained and desperate.

"No. You cant, I don't want you to see..." he said pleadingly.

Piper stroked his cheek gently.

"You might not want me to Chris, but I really do want to help you. Please let me help." She said caringly.

"Piper..." he moaned.

"No arguments." She said sternly as Phoebe bumped her head against the ceiling, eliciting as curse from her.

Chris nodded reluctantly and curled up at the end of the sofa, away from Piper, as though he were trying to protect her. A few minutes later, the floating stopped and they all touched back to earth, and the room began to shake violently instead. Leo went to put Chris down, as Piper took the spell and then took Chris' hand.

"_Nighttimes sight is wretched blight,_

_Your dreams hold little light_

_A guide you need for this time_

_For this service I offer you mine_."

Piper then fell asleep and flashed into Chris' current nightmare.

It was her, only a few months older by the look of things, and Leo was with her, looking resentful.

"_He is your son too." She growled._

"_Piper, I don't know how this happened. But I don't have time for another son." Leo complained._

_Piper narrowed her eyes dangerously._

"_What the hell happened to you Leo? You always wanted a family. Now you have one, you're just going to walk away?" she demanded angrily._

_Leo looked guilty._

"_I'm sorry Piper. I'm lucky I can be there for Wyatt. I cant be there for Chris too." He said, and orbed out._

_Piper fumed and vented her frustration by blowing up a vase. She looked at the little boy sitting in the cot, looking up at her with wide, green eyes._

"_It's ok sweetie, we don't need him anyway." She said._

The dream started to change, and Piper was taken aback by who Chris really was...and by Leo abandoning him.

The dream was different this time. Wyatt was sitting at the table, obviously about ten, and Chris was playing with a little girl, with beautiful long light brown hair and brown eyes. Piper was standing in the conservatory with Leo and in the middle of a blazing row.

"_They are your children Leo! And you come down here and conveniently forget that it's your second son's birthday!?" she raged._

"_Piper, I'm sorry, but with this new threat that's rising I haven't had much time." He answered._

_Piper snarled._

"_He is your son and Melinda is your daughter! And don't you dare come down here and tell me you have no time for them!" she roared, and blew him up._

_She continued to do so, furious tears in her eyes as he continued to reform. She blasted him time and again, her fury going beyond words. Leo finally made his way out from the assault. Piper stood in the conservatory, fuming and brimming with tears when she felt two little hands at her legs. She smiled slightly and hugged her daughter and her youngest son to her, cuddling them._

"_He isn't going to ruin you two." She vowed._

The nightmare then changed again, and Piper was staggered. Chris was another son and Melinda was a daughter?

The dream this time was in the kitchen. And Piper was lying on the floor, bleeding to death.

"_Wyatt! Wyatt! I need your help!" Chris yelled, resting his mother's head in his lap._

_No one came, and Chris placed his hand on her wound, trying to stop the flow of blood._

"_Mom...." he cried, looking at her with tear filled eyes._

"_Chris..." she gasped slightly._

"_DAD! Please! I need your help! Mom's dying, please answer!" Chris pleaded to the heavens, but there was still no help to be had. _

_Piper was fading fast, the colour going out of her body. Chris put his hands over her wound and tried desperately to activate his healing power, but it didn't work._

"_Please work..." he begged, tears falling._

_Piper looked up at him as he tried valiantly to save her._

"_Chris..." she said slowly._

"_Mom, please don't die. You cant." He moaned, stroking her hair with his bloodied hands._

"_I love you sweetie..." she said, and then she stopped moving all together._

"_NO!" Chris screamed._

The dream changed again, and Piper was looking in a daze at where she had died seconds before.

This time, Chris was older, more like the one they knew. Melinda had also grown older, and had long brown hair and was very beautiful. Paige was there, looking older and very weary, as was Phoebe, and they were standing in a room with a large table which was covered in maps and drawings, and the Book of Shadows.

"_He got the kids." Paige said helplessly._

_Melinda smacked the table in frustration._

"_When I get my hands on him..." she snarled._

_Chris shook his head._

"_We've been through this, we'll need the entire family to go up against him, he's too powerful." He said._

"_He's already sent that demon after Piper, and look where that got us. Things cant get much worse can they?" Paige asked._

_Phoebe was about to say something when she suddenly clutched her heart and burst into tears._

"_No..." Chris moaned, closing his eyes in defeat._

"_Who?" Melinda asked tearfully as Paige hugged her sister._

"_Poppy." Phoebe gasped._

_Chris and Melinda wrapped their aunt in a hug too as she sobbed onto Paige's shoulders._

"_We have to stop him." Melinda snarled._

The dream started to change again. Poppy appeared to be one of Phoebe's daughters, but who was so powerful that they could kill both her and her future niece, and where was Wyatt?

The scene this time was a hospital ward, where her dad was lying in bed, with Chris, a few months older than they had been in the last vision, sitting by his side.

"_Only you can stop him." Victor wheezed._

"_Grandpa..." Chris began, but Victor began coughing and he had to keep his grandfather steady._

"_No. Only...you." Victor said, sounding very pained._

"_Please don't go Grandpa." Chris pleaded._

_Victor smiled ruefully and ruffled Chris' hair._

"_I'm so...proud...." and he too died, just as Piper had done._

"_Grandpa..." Chris sobbed._

_Melinda then entered the ward, and saw that her grandfather had died._

"_Oh no." She said, sobbing and went and hugged her brother, who sobbed into her shoulder._

Piper fought hard to keep tears at bay, realising that this hadn't happened yet, but it was still very potent. Chris had seen so much, no wonder he was in such a state...

The dream changed once more, and this time they were in the Underworld, with Chris, Melinda and Phoebe looking worried.

"_Paige?" Phoebe called worriedly._

"_No..." Melinda said tearfully and rushed into the next cavern. _

_Paige was lying there, the victim of an energy ball, her chest smoking. Her breath's were ragged, and her gaze was vacant._

"_Aunt Paige." Melinda moaned as she tilted her head._

"_Wyatt...ordered the demon...to kill....Piper..." she gasped._

_Chris's face flashed with hatred._

"_Did he do this?" he asked urgently, as he tried to heal her._

"_Yes..." Paige whispered._

_Chris was trying to heal his aunt, but as before, his powers hadn't activated yet._

"_No, not again." He pleaded tearfully as Phoebe started to cry and Melinda was stroking Paige's hair, tears dripping from her face._

"_Hey, you know we both suck at that." Paige said consolingly, stroking Chris' cheek._

"_Why cant I save you? I failed mom..." he sniffed._

"_No you didn't." Paige said, then her eyes closed and her hand went limp._

"_Paige." Phoebe cried, while Chris broke down and buried his face in her hands and Melinda howled._

Piper looked at the scene in horror as she saw the evil that Chris had come from the future to stop. Wyatt, her beautiful little boy, grew up to become the ultimate evil, and had ordered her death and had killed Paige as well. How was that possible?

The dream changed once more, and Phoebe and Chris were both in the attic, glaring at a figure who was standing in the shadows, and the two of them were kept in position by a ring of demons.

"_You had your mother killed, and killed Paige. I don't know who you are, but you aren't my nephew anymore." Phoebe spat furiously._

_The man came from the shadows. He was tall, with long blond hair and a beard, and he was glaring at Phoebe with contempt. _

"_Save it aunt Phoebe. You're not worth my time. You've been working against me all the time while I've worked to achieve my vision. And you aren't going to stop me any more." He vowed._

"_Leave her alone Wyatt." Chris snarled._

_Wyatt laughed evilly._

"_You would love that wouldn't you little brother? You know, if you and Melinda had come to me like you were meant to, Phoebe and Paige could have retired off somewhere. But no, you had to take their side and keep up this stupid brawl between good and evil. The only thing worth fighting for in this world is power...and I have plenty." He boasted._

"_And never before has 'power corrupts' been more apt than with you Wyatt." Phoebe sneered, her eyes narrowed._

_Wyatt snickered, then conjured an energy ball._

"_You wont stop me aunt Phoebe. And without Chris to protect her, I can get Melinda too. And then all threats to my wonderful new world will end." He said silkily._

"_Wonderful new world? You have good people hiding in the underworld. And your pet demons are up here." Phoebe growled._

"_Yes, but there is peace. And you...you are a threat to my peace." Wyatt hissed, and threw the energy ball._

"_Phoebe, no!" Chris yelled, breaking free of his guardian as his aunt dropped to the floor._

_She was giving short ragged breaths. Chris splayed his hands out, trying desperately to save his last remaining parent figure, tears falling from his eyes as he looked at her charred chest._

"_Why does it never work?" he demanded tearfully, ignoring Wyatt's evil snickers as he looked down at his loving aunt with pleading eyes._

"_It's ok Chris honey. I...love..." and she too closed her eyes._

"_No...." Chris began, tears falling from his face as he beheld his dead aunt._

"_At last, I can claim my heritage. Now little brother, are you with me, or against me?" Wyatt demanded._

_Chris turned tearfully to his older brother._

"_Go to hell you evil manipulative bastard."_

_Wyatt looked slightly shocked as his brother stood up, standing protectively over his aunt. And then, the door to the attic blew open and Melinda entered, looking furious. She raised her hands and all the demons surrounding Chris were destroyed._

"_Hello sister." Wyatt purred excitedly._

"_You killed her too didn't you?" she growled, raising her hands to hit her eldest brother._

"_Yeah. Now, you and Chris can join me and we can be a big happy family again." Wyatt said excitedly._

"_Screw you bastard." Chris said and flicked Wyatt with a powerful blast of telekinesis._

_Wyatt grunted as he was thrown across the room. Melinda blew a hole in the wall, and a hole in the magical shield outside it. _

"_Chris!" she yelled._

_Chris then took his aunts body, and orbed out, picking Melinda up on the way as they disappeared._

Piper couldn't believe what she had seen. Her son became the epitome of all evil. And her other son and her daughter were the ones leading the fight against him. And Chris had seen everyone important to him in his life die...no wonder he was so traumatised.

This time they were back in the room with the table, and it was only Melinda and Chris.

"_What about dad?" Chris asked._

_Melinda snorted disdainfully._

"_Bro, he hasn't appeared since I was three. His wife and sisters-in law are all dead, his son has taken over the demon world and the real world and have pushed good magical practitioners into hiding and the Elders are mostly dead. He was never there for us when we wanted or needed him. Why should he care now?" she hissed._

_Chris smiled._

"_I love what mentioning him does to you. And it always reminds me of how much I hate him. After we deal with Wyatt, can we please deal with him?" Chris asked, his green eyes narrowed coldly._

"_Oh yes. But no killing dear old daddy until after we deal with wonderful little Wyatt." She said bitterly, and Chris nodded._

Piper was shocked. Leo had abandoned his family, and had never been there for Chris and Melinda to the extent they were plotting his murder. She now knew why Chris didn't like Leo at least. And she also knew why he was so neurotic...his brother was always deemed the best and the most powerful, so Chris, and most likely Melinda, had both formed an inferiority complex.

The scene changed again, and this time Chris was bleeding and bruised on the floor of the attic, with Wyatt standing triumphantly above him.

"_Chris, you cant last much longer. Dont make me destroy you." Wyatt said softly._

_Chris, his face beaten to a pulp, looked up at his brother, hate pouring from his remaining good eye._

"_Just kill me. It would suit me. You cant take much more away from me. End it I beg you." He said bitterly._

_Wyatt laughed slightly._

"_You don't really mean that Chris. After all, if I kill you, no one can protect our little atomic sister. I want her powers, and I'll get them as soon as you join me...or I kill you."_

_Chris picked himself up._

"_She wont join you." Chris vowed angrily._

_Wyatt laughed evilly and fired an energy ball into Chris, burning off more flesh on his torso. Chris dropped to his knees in pain, and Wyatt advanced slowly._

"_You know what I want." Wyatt said, crouching down beside his brother._

"_Yeah, me." Melinda said from the door._

_She then blasted Wyatt with her powers, sending him hurtling across the room and smashing into the wall._

"_Melinda, don't..." Chris said._

_She ignored him and hoisted him up and they ran from the attic and down the stairs._

"_I'm not going to let my brother die. Why didn't you call for dad?" Melinda asked, smiling slightly._

_Chris smirked painfully as the door came into view._

_And then an energy ball came hurtling at them. Melinda pushed Chris to the ground and allowed the ball to blast through her._

"_NO!" Chris screamed as his sister dropped down beside him._

_She looked at him lovingly._

"_I love you big bro." She whispered, and she too was gone._

"_Damn it!" Wyatt cursed, preparing another energy ball. _

_Chris stood up, rage filling his face. Electricity flashed from his fingers, and then a swirling clear ball formed around it, and he threw it at his brother. Wyatt groaned as it came at him, and then the ball hit him, throwing him up into the corner of the stairs and covering him with crackling electricity. Chris dragged his dead sister to the door, and orbed into their escape._

Chris screamed, jarring Piper back into real life. Chris was sobbing hard as she looked at him in shock, and he was weak and shivering. Piper looked at him, and a great feeling of love rushed into her heart.

"Chris? Piper? What's the matter?" Phoebe asked urgently.

Piper then pulled her son into her arms and made comforting sounds in his ear, rocking him gently.

"Oh Chris, I am so so sorry I made you do that. If I'd known..." she whispered as she cradled him.

"Mom...." Chris said, his voice thick with tears.

"Mom?" Paige asked in amazement.

The three others stood there, looking on in shock as Piper cradled her son, rubbing his back and stroking his hair, trying to calm him down. Chris took several deep shuddering breaths as she consoled him, nuzzling him protectively. He started to calm down as she comforted him, then turned furiously to Leo. She knew he hadn't done anything yet, and as he would be forewarned, she knew he wouldn't, but that didn't matter. She blasted him, blowing him apart three times in rapid succession.

"Ow! What the hell was that for?" he demanded.

"If you ever....ever treat our children like that, they wont need to kill you. I will do it myself." She vowed furiously.

Leo looked at her in bewilderment as she went back to restoring Chris to normal. He finally stopped shaking and she kissed his forehead, then pulled him close to her, allowing him to cuddle into her.

"You're...our nephew?" Phoebe asked in confusion.

Chris nodded, as Piper cuddled him.

"And my second son?" Leo asked, astounded.

There was a certain stiffness to his nod this time, but he still nodded.

Paige looked at him, then failed to stop a smile.

"So now isn't the time to play happy families then?"

Piper shot her a dirty look, but Chris snorted slightly, trying to hide a small grin.

"I see you have her sense of humour." Piper said shrewdly.

Chris smiled slightly as she rubbed his arm with her thumb.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Phoebe asked, sitting down beside him and hugging him.

"I couldn't. I was afraid...if I got close to you, told you who I was...it would hurt even more when I lost you again." He admitted, and Piper hugged him tightly.

"Lost us again?" Paige asked, sitting beside the couch and rubbing his hand.

"Start at the beginning sweetie. I'll fill them in." Piper said as Leo sat on the coffee table and looked in concern at his son.

"Well, the first nightmare..." he began.

"It's me and Leo arguing about Chris. He says he doesn't have time to have a second son." Piper said, looking at Leo apologetically now that her rage had dimmed.

"What?" Leo asked, looking shocked.

"Yeah. You don't want anything to do with me." Chris said resentfully.

"Hence I take it you get along a lot better with Piper?" Phoebe asked.

Chris nodded.

"Well when Wyatt goes off, its just me and her usually. Sometimes Melinda." He explained.

"Melinda?" Paige asked in confusion.

"Later. So it's normally just the two of us?" Piper asked.

"Yeah. And we get along. You're the best, mom." Chris said, and Piper smiled slightly.

"Thank you baby." She said.

Leo sat forward.

"Chris, no matter what happens, I am not going to be that father again. I'm going to be there for you just as much as I'm there for Wyatt. I wont do that to you. Even if I am an Elder." He said determinedly.

Chris looked at his father, and nodded slowly, saying nothing.

"He means it you know." Piper said lightly.

"Sorry mom, but even you and the others learnt not to rely on him, or on his promises. Even after..." Chris began, and took a deep sniff to stop himself crying.

"What did you see next honey?" Paige asked.

"Another fight between me and Leo. I'm fighting with him because he's forgotten Chris' birthday. And he doesn't want to know about Melinda either." She said.

"Melinda? Who is Melinda?" Paige asked, exasperated.

"My daughter?" Leo asked quietly, and Chris nodded.

"Yeah. You didn't want to know about her either."

Leo shook his head wonderingly.

"How could I have become such a bad father?"

Piper patted his hand, but pulled Chris tightly as if to show that if he did that she would side with her son.

"What did you see next?" Paige asked.

Chris looked worriedly at his mother, who nodded gently.

"The next one was when mom...was killed. It was my fourteenth birthday. A demon attacked us, and we couldn't fight it off. It stabbed mom, then escaped before I could do anything else. No one came. Wyatt didn't hear me, aunt Phoebe and Paige were away with Melinda getting some stuff and dad ignored me. I yelled for him to help....he didn't come. Then I tried to heal her...but I couldn't. Wyatt could always heal, I couldn't, not when it mattered. She bled to death right there beside me, I couldn't save her. It's my fault, I wasn't strong enough..." he mumbled.

Piper kissed his forehead tenderly.

"No. Never. There was nothing you could have done, I saw it. You couldn't have saved me sweetie. It's not your fault." She soothed.

"I let you die?" Leo asked looking ashen.

"Because you wanted nothing to do with me, you put me on mute. And so you weren't there when I needed you...as usual." Chris said bitterly.

Leo looked at Piper, devastated. She looked slightly apologetic but the fact that he let her die wasn't doing much for her mood.

"Melinda was crushed as well. She came in to find me kneeling in your blood...it devastated her, knowing you were gone. We missed you so much..." Chris muttered, and Piper held him tightly.

"Oh god...you've been through so much...." Phoebe said, hugging her nephew.

"Wyatt wasn't affected much. Then aunt Paige and I began to get suspicious about him. We eventually found out that he had gone evil and had taken over the Underworld. When the lot of us confronted him, he showed us how evil he'd gone. He murdered Melinda's boyfriend...I've never seen her so defeated. Her own brother had betrayed her and then he killed her boyfriend." Chris said.

"Wait, Wyatt turns evil?" Paige demanded in shock.

"Yep. He takes over the Underworld, and things get really bad. He brings demons topside and controls both worlds. It's bad. Really bad."

"But how does that happen?" Phoebe exclaimed, seeing that Chris was telling the truth with Piper's solemn nods.

"I don't know. All I know is that whatever happens to turn him so bad happens before I'm born. That's why I came back...." Chris explained.

"To kill him?" Paige asked worriedly.

Chris smiled forlornly.

"No. I could never kill him. I think he banks on that fact, knowing that I could never kill my own brother. Even after all he's done, I still couldn't kill him because I still love him like I used to. I came back to save him...however I could."

"You were prepared to alienate us to save your brother?" Leo asked in shock.

Chris nodded mutely.

"You shouldn't have had to do that. You aren't alone anymore." He said, and Chris' glare at his father softened a little.

"We're going to save him baby. For your sake as much as ours." Piper promised him.

"So what was the next nightmare?" Phoebe asked, looking pale.

"We'd been fighting him for a while. Wyatt had taken over and we were fighting a rebellion effectively. He attacked the safehouse where our cousins were."

"Cousins? As in...our kids?" Paige asked interestedly.

"Yeah. He attacked them and took them away, we didn't know until it was too late. He wanted to turn them...the ones he couldn't turn, he killed. The one in the nightmare is when he killed Poppy, your eldest, aunt Phoebe. She was trying to protect her sisters, and aunt Paige's kids. So...he killed her." Chris said, wincing at the memory and the pain he was causing his aunt.

"He kills our kids?" Paige demanded.

"Yours he doesn't, he turns them and we have to fight them occasionally. Poppy was the first one he killed." Chris said uncomfortably.

Phoebe looked devastated. Piper squeezed her shoulder as if to remind her that that wouldn't happen now that they knew what could happen.

"The next one was where grandpa died. His smoking habit caught up to him. He was great after you died, mom...he kept me sane, helped me work things out. He went to talk to Wyatt once and barely got out of there alive. Then...he died too." Chris said, tears in his voice.

"You must have been so alone. I take it...I hadn't reappeared?" Leo asked.

Chris shook his head.

"No. Aunt Paige hardly left our side because she was afraid Wyatt would always be gunning for us. Even they had given up on you by then., Besides, we didn't know if you were alive, Wyatt had taken out the Elders. Needless to say, Melinda and I weren't inclined to find out if you had survived anyway." Chris sneered slightly.

Leo looked at the floor, and Piper knew that there was a reason Chris hadn't told them much, because it would cause too much pain.

"The next one was when aunt Paige was killed. We'd suspected for ages that Wyatt had ordered that demon to murder mom, and she went undercover to find out. Turns out he did. But Wyatt figured out who you were and attacked you. We got there too late to save you...I couldn't heal you, as usual....I failed you too, so I got to watch you die like I did mom..." he sobbed.

Paige hugged her nephew tightly, making shooshing noises.

"Well we wont let that happen again, will we?" she asked tearfully, nuzzling him.

"Melinda was furious after you died. She wanted to risk the entire rebellion in an all out attack against Wyatt...it mucked her up real bad. Both of us wanted blood, but Phoebe stopped us. We could form a power of three if we needed to with her, but it wasn't enough to stop Wyatt. So Phoebe and I started poking around the manor, and then he captured us. That's when he told us why he'd been after you pair all along, so he could get us and form an evil power of three so that he would be invincible. And with Melinda's power, very few would stand against him. She packed the force of an atomic bomb when she was pissed." Chris recounted fondly.

"Sounds like your daughter all right." Phoebe said, smiling slightly at Piper.

Piper smiled.

"That's when Wyatt killed you Phoebe. You gave him the goods, told him what you thought of him, and he killed you too." Piper said reluctantly.

"And I couldn't save you either...after you died we had no one left, and I had to run the rebellion with Melinda after she bust me out of the manor. I think he took pleasure in the fact that he made me watch all three of you die, he was trying to corrupt me." Chris said tearfully.

Phoebe rubbed his back comfortingly.

"We're all here now. And don't blame yourself for me either." She warned, kissing his cheek.

Chris smiled at her, letting his hardened heart feel love for his family again.

"The next one..." Piper said hesitantly.

"Oh...the one where Melinda and me are plotting to kill dad?" Chris asked awkwardly.

"What?" Phoebe asked in shock as Leo looked taken aback.

Chris looked uncomfortable.

"You have to understand aunt Phoebe. He was never there for us when we needed him when we were growing up. He wasn't there for us to help save mom, Paige or you. He abandoned us when we actually wanted or needed him. And he abandoned the world by letting his precious twice-blessed child wreck it, and did nothing. You called for him for hours to tell him what had happened to mom, and he never answered. So, you told us to give up on him, and granddad effectively replaced him. We didn't care. But after we lost you and we had no one left, I think part of us wanted to lash out, and as we held him partially responsible for losing all of you, we wanted to go after him and kill him, but not until we finished Wyatt." He explained.

The entire family looked at Leo, who was holding his head in grief. He then got off the table and knelt in front of his son.

"Look Chris, I was clearly the worst possible father where you come from, and I let you and your sister deal with everything alone. But that is going to change. I am not going to abandon my family, not now, not ever, I promise. You will have a decent father!" Leo vowed urgently, and Chris smiled, and hugged his father.

"And if you don't make good on that promise, an evil Wyatt will be the least of your worries." Piper snarled.

Leo nodded.

"If I don't make good on that promise, I'll ask you to find Darklighter central for me to go into." He said grimly, and Chris smiled slightly, touched by how much his father wanted to sort things.

"You have no idea how long we've wanted to hear you say that dad." Chris said.

"If I'm so bad my good kids are trying to kill me, I don't deserve to live. I will fix this son." He promised.

Chris took a deep breath.

"The last one..." Piper said leadingly.

Chris shuddered.

"You tell them." He said, cuddling back into her, as though his mother could protect him from his worst nightmare.

"Wyatt had apparently captured Chris. He was torturing him, trying to find out where Melinda was. Chris, did you really want to die?" Piper asked worriedly, to the shocked looks of the others.

Chris shrugged.

"It wouldn't have bothered me much if that's what you're asking. We had lost everything, he'd crushed the rebellion, we had nowhere left to go. He'd been torturing me for days by that point...and I just wanted the fight with him to stop, to give up and let someone else fight him for a change."

"Chris..." Paige said softly, stroking his hair tenderly, as Piper and Phoebe hugged him tighter and Leo squeezed his hand lovingly.

"No one should have to consider that, just to escape..." Leo said.

"Chris...let me see them." Piper said quietly.

Chris immediately sat up and shook his head defiantly.

"Not a chance." He said.

"Chris, I'm your mother. If I'm not there for you in your future, at least let me be there for you in the present?" she said, and Chris looked down guiltily.

She felt slightly bad for using the guilt card but she had no choice. She lifted up his tshirt.

"_Let the cause of objection become reality_

_As the unseen scene becomes seen_." Chris said.

There was a glamour and Piper looked in shock at the three massive energy ball burns across his body, one on his shoulder, one on his side and one just below his neck.

"Oh my god..." Phoebe gasped, horrified.

"Chris..." Paige said, aghast.

Leo put his hands over them and they began to heal, and Chris closed his eyes as the pain started to lessen.

"You've been going around with them?" Piper demanded, horrified.

"Yeah. It's not important." He said.

"The hell it isn't." Leo said as they healed up.

Piper hugged her son to her gently, and he melted into the embrace, his scars gone.

"No wonder your nightmares caused earthquakes." Paige commented, holding his hand.

"The last one gets worse. Melinda arrived to save him, and she whacked Wyatt. They nearly made it out, when Wyatt fired an energy ball. Melinda...sacrificed herself." Piper said, croaking slightly.

"That was the one time I really wanted just to kill Wyatt, when he did that. He murdered her..."

"That was a pretty impressive power you used. What was it?" Piper asked curiously.

"I call it a shock ball. I meld my telekinesis and my electrokinesis to make them. Wyatt doesn't like them, he can only stop one of the effects at a time if he gets hit by one. I should have used an electro ball, they're my lethal power..." he said, his voice quavering.

"Oh Chris..." Leo said tearfully.

"He took everyone I cared about, finally Melinda and Bianca. Now do you get why I came back here? To save you all from that happening, to protect you." He sobbed into Piper's shoulder.

Piper rocked him consolingly, as the others looked on in horrified shock. He'd been through so much just to be here.

"You...and your sister seem to be close." Paige said, caressing his cheek.

"Yeah...without Wyatt around we just got closer. But she was always closer to me than him anyway. She was my little sister..." he moaned, and Leo took over, hugging his son as Piper had to stop herself crying.

"And you looked after her?" Phoebe asked gently.

"Yeah. But I couldn't have done it without you two." He said to his aunts, who hugged him.

Leo helped Piper up as Phoebe and Paige looked after Chris. Everything had mercifully returned to normal and had stopped floating around. Leo wrapped his arms around Piper protectively.

"We cant let that happen to Wyatt. For his sake." He said.

Piper nodded grimly.

"We'll save Wyatt, Chris and Melinda. For their sake." She said, and they headed back in.

"Chris baby, we will help you protect Wyatt to our dying breaths if thats what it takes to save your future. And you'll never know how much I appreciate how much you've done, coming back to save us all, to protect us. But you don't have to do that anymore. It's a mother's job to protect her son, not the other way around. And I'm going to make sure that nothing else hurts you." She said, holding her son to her.

"I love you so much mom." Chris said tearfully.

"And I love you too baby." She said, stroking his hair.

"And I love you too, and I'm going to fix us, I promise." Leo said, also hugging his son, and his wife too.

Phoebe and Paige looked at the scene with tears in their eyes, and sat down and hugged them too.

"Us too." Phoebe said in her baby voice.

"Definitely." Paige agreed.

"I've missed you so much." Chris said softly.

"I know baby...I know." Piper whispered.

Phoebe, Leo and Paige left, leaving Piper with her son. Soon he was sound asleep in her arms, and she was sound asleep above him.

XX

Leo looked into the coffee mug in confusion.

"How can I become someone they hate so much they want to kill me?" he asked sadly.

Phoebe squeezed his hand.

"We have a chance to fix it now, and I reckon we will now." She said optimistically.

Paige smiled as she looked down at the sleeping Wyatt.

"It's hard to believe. Dont worry little one, we wont let you go rotten. We'll protect you." She said, stroking her nephew's hair.

"We'll save them wont we? Wyatt and Chris?" Leo asked suddenly.

"Yeah. We will." Phoebe promised, hugging her brother in law.

XX

It was the middle of the night when Piper woke. She realised that her youngest elder son wasn't with her, where he'd fallen asleep hours before. Curious, and fearing his nightmares were keeping him awake, she went upstairs and found him in the nursery, rocking Wyatt back to sleep.

"I wont let them get you bro. I'll save you." He promised his little big brother, who made a cooing noise in response.

Piper smiled as she watched her son rock his brother.

"You don't hate him?" she asked quietly, creeping into the room so's not to frighten Wyatt, or startle Chris.

Chris smiled down at his brother.

"No way. The older, evil Wyatt I hate. I couldn't hate him. Resent him possibly for what he becomes, but not hate him." He said, rocking his brother gently.

"You're a good big little brother honey." She said, taking her young son from him, and wrinkling her nose.

"Yeah...I may be determined to save him from evil, but not determined enough to change him. I remember helping you change Melinda. It wasn't pretty." Chris said, screwing his nose up.

Piper rolled her eyes and started to change her son, then became more aware of the smell.

"Mom, what do you feed us?" Chris asked, repulsed.

"Oh...I know what that is. Remind me never to feed that to you." She said, wrinkling her nose as she changed Wyatt.

She gave the refreshed Wyatt to Chris, who laid him down gently into his cot and then tucked his brother in.

"Night bro." He said, heading out.

Piper took his hand and led him to the nursery sofa, where Piper would sleep if Wyatt was ill. She sat down and Chris curled up into her, and she started gently brushing his hair with her fingers. He was soon fast asleep, and his sleep seemed undisturbed by vicious nightmares. Perhaps talking them over had helped him, especially now his family knew all he'd been through.

"Sweet dreams honey." She said lovingly, and then dozed off herself.

Later that night, Leo looked into the nursery and smiled. Wyatt was sound asleep in his cot, Piper was leaned up against the cushioned end of the sofa, and Chris was wrapped around her, trapped by her arms, both sleeping peacefully. He smiled and put a blanket over the two of them lovingly.

"Goodnight." He said, stroking Piper's cheek, and orbed out, his sleeping family the last thing he saw.

**Ok, I lied, but I got the idea for this one and just had to write it. But that is the last one I promise! And I mean it this time ;)**

**I hope you enjoyed these three stories, and I assure you, we will be back with normal Charmed very soon! Until then, please read and review and I hope you enjoy!**


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